Around 20-30% of people find clowns scary, with some experiencing panic attacks and anxiety. Coulrophobia, the fear of clowns, may stem from childhood trauma, societal norms, and media portrayals. Treatment centers exist for those with coulrophobia.
According to some studies on phobia, an estimated 20 to 30 percent of the entire population find clowns scary, or at least a little creepy. A certain segment of that group finds them scary enough to trigger panic attacks, anxiety, and other phobic reactions. The fear of clowns is called coulrophobia, from the Greek word for “limb,” surprisingly enough. The association with clowns and devices such as stilts most likely inspired the condition’s name. There are a number of theories as to why people find them scary, including hidden face fears and scary media portrayals.
A common theory predicts a connection between the presence of clowns and a personal trauma suffered in early childhood. For a young child, a circus can create a sensory overload with all its unusual sights, sounds and smells. When professional clowns begin their routine, a child can easily become overwhelmed by the surreality of it all. Heavy makeup, colorful costumes, and oversized prosthetics help mask the performers’ true emotions and intentions, which can become very nerve-wracking for a child.
There is also the concept of what role clowns play in society. According to the “rules” established, children have the right to behave like children and adults have the responsibility to act like adults. Some people find clowns scary because they are adults who are allowed, even encouraged, to act like children. If clowns aren’t limited by the same social norms as their audience, they may be able to do other things than entertain crowds. Subconscious fears of harassment by a masked or transvestite assailant may be one of the reasons some people have this fear.
Clowns are often portrayed as emotionally unstable or even psychotic in many forms of media. The idea of a “killer clown” has been used for decades in horror movies and novels, and photos of serial killer John Wayne Gacy as a clown have been published many times. Clowns are also often portrayed as emotionally conflicted, projecting a false impression of happiness to their audience while hiding great personal pain. These images can instill a sense of dread or fear in impressionable children, which in turn could lead to coulrophobia later in life.
Not all people find clowns scary, and some find them just plain annoying or unfunny. Much of a clown’s humor is meant to be broad and physical, complete with goofballs and pie in the face. Interaction with audience members, which often involves acts of humiliation, could be another reason some people dislike clowns. Feeling humiliated or ridiculed in public can be a very traumatic experience for some people, even if the actor’s actions were done in the name of comedy. Many audience members dread the idea of becoming part of the act, so the association of public ridicule and clowns could leave a long-term scar on a person’s psyche.
There are actual treatment centers that specialize in treating coulrophobia and other unusual social phobias. Treatment usually involves intense personal counseling or psychotherapy, along with group therapy and a supervised desensitization program involving real clowns. True phobia sufferers often experience the same social anxieties as agoraphobics, staying indoors rather than risk an accidental encounter with a clown or seeing images of clowns in public areas.
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